Types of Animation Styles and Their Best Fit
There are various styles that our team uses to tell stories for clients. Our team will recommend different types of styles for different circumstances. The styles we discuss here are:
3D Isometric Style
3D Conceptual
3D Photorealistic
2.5D Isometric
The Low-Poly style
Graphic Driven 2D Animation
3D Motion Graphics
Kinetic Typography
Whiteboard Animation
Bonus: Looping Graphics
3D Isometric Style
What is it? This is a form of 3D set out using 30-degree angles. It’s a type of axonometric drawing, which means it’s three-dimensional but without perspective. These types of drawings are commonly used in technical illustrations because of their clarity, simplicity, and speed of creation.
Best for: Adding more context and detail while retaining a simple animation style, especially for interconnected objects or large environments
Practical examples: Landing page videos, logos and icons, anything involving maps, cities, neighborhoods, etc.
Time to produce a 1-minute video: 8-12 weeks
See a 3D isometric video:
The relationship among solar farms, the power grid, and residential homes lent itself well to the 3D isometric style in this video we made for a solar electricity company.
Solar power moving throughout a sprawling urban landscape is easily recognized and understood in the context of a solar plan through the use of 3D iso in this video.
3D Conceptual
What is it? 3D Conceptual is a way of quickly developing the look of objects, products, and environments that don’t yet exist or are otherwise abstract. The main goal is to convey a visual representation of the design and idea behind the final product. A 3D Conceptual video usually progresses from the complex design to the simpler form that the viewer can understand.
Best for: Showcasing a process or service in a stunning visual format
Time to produce a 1-minute video: 8-12 weeks
See a 3D conceptual animation:
How better to explain the different ways to use 3D video than to animate it in 3D? The final result looks incredible while also serving its purpose as an explainer video for a difficult-to-quantify concept.
3D animation grants a level of sophistication to a video that is often needed when discussing a complex concept, such as the services provided by this client that offers a wide range of energy consulting services.
3D Photorealistic
What is it? This type of animation is an artistic rendering of objects and environments that is ‘the next best thing’ to the reality. It allows for highly accurate and detailed representations of objects and life-like movements in three-dimensional space, such as wafting smoke, blazing fire, flowing water, and colliding objects.
A 3D Photorealistic video uses tri-dimensional models that are coated with a color or an image (textures), which represents the real materials. This extremely precise animation work requires a high degree of technical knowledge of 3D animation software and rendering techniques, as well as sufficiently sophisticated computer hardware to animate everything efficiently.
Best for: Showing something it’s impractical or impossible to show in person, such as something in the human body or deep underground
Practical examples: Investor presentation pitch; product design, interior design, and architecture videos
Time to produce a 1-minute video: 12-16 weeks
See Photorealistic animation examples:
2.5D Isometric
What is it? This style tricks the eye by creating the illusion of depth in the animation by making it look as if 2D objects are moving forward and backward in 3D space. It’s just realistic enough to be familiar to the audience, yet different enough that the viewer knows it’s conceptual.
Best for: Showing conceptual concepts simply (because it is itself conceptual).
Practical examples: video game-style ads and explainer videos
Time to produce a 1-minute video: 8-12 weeks
See a 2.5D isometric animation:
In this video for our in-house content marketing and video program, we used an isometric animation to illustrate the concept. Instead of showing actual work samples like articles and webpages, we used a conceptual design to show a journey through the process.
To strike a balance between sufficient information and information overload, we used 2.5D isometric animation to visualize and briefly summarize for viewers what our client--a retail energy provider--does.
The Low-Poly style
What is it? As the name implies, low-poly animation uses the minimum amount of details necessary to define the shape of an object. This style of animation is very different, using contrasting light and color to force the eye to specific points of the image. The time it takes to produce low-poly models is considerably less than realistic models, but it requires a keen eye for lighting, color palettes, and modeling.
Best for: An inexpensive, quick way to achieve an interesting style and somewhat nostalgic or ethereal feel
Time to produce a 1-minute video: 8-12 weeks
See a low-poly video:
Although it concerns a serious topic, this video explaining a stem cell procedure works well in low-poly because the goal is to calm a patient’s generalized fears, which might only be exacerbated by ultra-realistic animations of surgical tools, for example.
Clever transitions and some ‘see-and-say’ effects are enough to quickly convey the concept of an insurance coverage plan without the need for advanced graphics.
Graphic Driven 2D Animation
What is it? Some of the simplest videos to produce, 2D animations feature flat design elements created in the two-dimensional, flat space. This can include motion graphics, which essentially takes an otherwise static graphic design and gives it animation and movement.
Best for: Communicating simple concepts clearly and visually, presenting fun content, or conveying a feeling of nostalgia. 2D animations are also helpful when text alone isn’t enough to get a point across, but 3D might be overkill. 2D can also give you flexibility in the types of graphics that you create and makes for a convenient addition to materials with lots of text or graphics that have already been created, such as a PowerPoint deck.
Practical examples: Training videos, presentations, explainer videos, teaser videos, social ads, existing material that has been presented in longer formats and needs to be shortened for the video format.
Time to produce a 1-minute video: 4-6 weeks
See a 2D animation:
3D Motion Graphics
What is it? Motion graphics are a combination of 2D and 3D animation that can create visually engaging moving compositions. They can utilize typography, photography, illustrations, graphics, charts, music, sound effects, and more.
Best for: Explaining a concept that isn’t inherently visually striking and representing it in an aesthetically pleasing, and often emotionally stirring, manner
Practical examples: Educational (especially medical) videos, prototype videos, architecture and design proposals, commercials
Time to produce a 1-minute video: 8-12 weeks
See a 3D motion graphic:
This video is similar in style to a 3D conceptual animation, making use of striking graphics and motion effects to explain its energy management services.
Kinetic Typography
What is it? This is the “moving text” style of 2D animation that you may have seen at some point in a commercial, or before a church sermon, or in a movie trailer. Here the text is the major component, with the elements that make up the type moving in relation to one another and teasing the viewer along in a ‘see-and-say’ style. Letters and words may move away from one another on a 2D plane, or in three-dimensional space, or they may change shape, evolve, and transform into objects or other words.
Best for: Videos whose copy and message are strong enough to stand on their own, especially messages (and brands) that are somewhat whimsical or light-hearted in nature
Practical examples: special event/campaign kickoff videos, promotional videos, animated/gif logos, trailers
Time to produce a 1-minute video: 4-6 weeks
See a kinetic typography animation:
Whiteboard Animation
What is it? A hugely popular 2D animation style, a whiteboard video is designed to mimic a teacher explaining a topic by drawing on the eponymous classroom staple as he talks through the concept. Thus, the video features static images illustrated on a white backdrop--often in a time-lapse or stop-motion style--with narration typically accompanying the visuals that walks the audience through the story.
Best for: Conveying complex (or boring) ideas and concepts, especially in B2B marketing
Practical examples: Employee training videos, new product or service demos, educational videos
Time to produce a 1-minute video: 4-6 weeks
See whiteboard animation examples:
Bonus: Looping Graphics
What is it? A looping graphic is any type of animation described above, created so that all or part of the animation seamlessly replays once it reaches the end.
Best for: Simply bringing a still image to life to convey a concept, show the passage of time, or add humor
Practical examples: Telling a story in a chart, animated logos, visual depiction of a short series of steps, unique website headers
Time to produce a 10-second loop: 8-12 weeks